The Right Stuff
by Tom Wolfe
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Book Reviews of The Right Stuff
Book Review: An evocative trip to a vanished era
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was growing up, I did not want to me an astronaut. I wanted to be a ballerina. Now, with the state of both the space program and the arts, it appears that there will be neither astronauts nor ballerinas in America in the future. So in the future, children will have to dream about the past.
Tom Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF presents the sheer power and drive of the story. This is, after all, the book that turned Chuck Yeager from someone known primarily by airplane lovers to a bona fide Great American. I remember too how it was the movie version of this book that was anticipated to launch the John Glenn presidential campaign, the progress of which had started, it was thought, on the day he volunteered for astronaut training.
I am old enough to remember most of the events he describes, and, at least in my mind, it has captured the time and place. There are no footnotes, but obviously a lot of interviews went into this book. The big picture is accurate, even if he does get aircraft designations wrong (he confuses the Grumman F7F Tigercat and the Grumman F11F Tiger, and that F4H-1s became F-4Bs in 1962). He's got other details wrong too. But that's small stuff.
There are remarkable descriptions that have great applicability as craft examples. This includes the description of a deck landing in chapter 2, or of the testffield at Muroc in chapter 3. Chapter 1 provides an example of how to introduce terms (pushing the envelope), the effective use of repetition (the bridge coats at the funerals), Chapter 1 also shows the invocation of sensory details, with the smells of an airplane that has crashed in a swamp, and a description of the swamp itself. These descriptions arise segued not from a description of the airplane that has crashed or the pilot that has been killed, but of the feelings of the spouse of a surviving pilot at the funeral of the guy who finished off in the swamp. Such emotions are certainly a powerful opening to the book, and starting off with the wife, not with the pilot or the airplane, a non-obvious narrative approach, was used to powerful advantage.
Chapter 11 includes a remarkable an exciting scene, with Gus Grissom in the water after his capsule had landed and a series of failures leads to the capsule sinking and him almost being drowned, He runs through the scene effectively twice, once from the point of view of the literally more distant (and detached) rescue helicopter pilots and one from that of the closely involved, potentially drowning Grissom which reproduced what was going on inside his head. Now, Grisson may have talked aboiut this is an interview before his tragic death in the Apollo capsule fire, or this may all be the author's surmise. The reader does not know. But it is done effectively. As is the transition to the disappointment in the lack of post-launch recognition that followed the Grissom mishap.
When Chuck Yeager stalls and spins the NF-104 in chapter 15, it was a spectacular scene. ).
Book Review: Similar to the Movie, but Worth the Extra Effort
Summary: 5 Stars
Those who are familiar with the theatrical version of The Right Stuff will likely question whether actually reading the underlying book should bother. I know I sure felt that way, even after acknowledging that the book was likely better. But some compelling aspects of the novel are worth exploring on one's own.
Wolfe's fascinating imagery, for example, showing how John Glenn, Alan Shepard, and the remaining astronaut lot dethroned the old guard is one aspect worth experiencing. Another is the retelling of each astronaut's marvelous flight. The depth, detail, and imagination radiating from the page perfectly captures the novelty of the time, exciting even for those who can only know a world where space flight is somewhat commonplace. Chuck Yeager's final flight in the experimental NF-104A, his last record breaking attempt, is equally eye opening. The political wrangling between NASA, the Air Force, and others that was critical to the Apollo program's success, while much less exciting, is no less essential to understanding the anxiousness of a country living in the shadow of the apparently unstoppable Red Menace.
For all these reasons, Wolfe's nonfiction novel is truly a testament to the bravery, ambition, and determination of all of these men and to the country who was determined to cast their silhouettes among the stars. All who are interested in the rise of the world's premier space program should take the extra time to experience it.
Book Review: Generation Lost In Space
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked up The Right Stuff, expecting to read a detailed history of the US space program; from the breaking of the sound barrier to the Moon landing. Instead Wolfe has written a book about the rare breed of men that have the necessary ice water coursing through their veins to fly the experimental fighter jets, and to sit on the tips of rockets. This isn't a book about the science and bureaucracy of aviation in the 50s and 60's, but instead a study of the psyche of the pilot.
This is a fast past paced narrative which portrays the pilot of the cold war as a near mythical figure - an American David to the Soviet Goliath. In doing so Wolfe also examines the psyche of the American people during this time, and provides an interesting commentary on society. It harkens back to a time when America could accomplish what was thought unthinkable, by the sheer determination and true patriotism of its people. In a way that is almost hard for us today to imagine, these pilots not for monetary gain, risked their lives for their country and for the prestige of being called a true brother among pilots. Society today has a strange way of making celebrities out of the nobodies and the untalented. Reading The Right Stuff in 2009, is a reminder that America once extolled the virtue of real accomplishment, of being chosen from the select few, and from the select few proving to have the right stuff.
Book Review: Interesting, but too sensational, and not historically accurate enough
Summary: 2 Stars
This book covers a fascinating period in America's history, and the fascinating handful of men who became America's first astronauts. However, I am sorry to say that it is not very well written. In many cases it is factually inaccurate, and if you know anything about flying or the space program, than certain mistakes or misconceptions become glaringly obvious as you read this book. Furthermore, the book is just plain too sensational. It over-states and hypes up the danger and the thrill-seeking, without paying enough attention to the technical expertise and scientific knowledge required of test pilots and astronauts. Tom Wolfe does no justice to the space program, to test pilots, or to astronauts, in this over-hyped, under-accurate book. If you want the real story of NASA, read about it from someone who was in the program, or at least from someone who is going to take the time to research their facts and write a good book. Several other authors - Michael Collins, Chuck Yeager, and others, wrote much more enjoyable, much more accurate, and much more meaningful contributions to the history of the space program and the test pilots of the 60's.Book Review: better than I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
From the sound of it, a book about astronauts sounds like it would be interesting. But if you really think about it, do you really care to know every detail of the story of astronauts? I wouldn't care. Of course maybe someone older who lived through the hype back then would really enjoy reading the ins and outs of the program. But to a young buck, astronauts are cool and all but give me the facts, give me the meat; I don't care for the jargon, the details of each flight etc. Better yet, give me the juice on the tragic accidents that occurred in the space program - like Apollo 13.
Well, Wolfe does not indulge us. He gives the long and short of the Mercury program which was the first to put a man into Earth's orbit. However he writes in a way that the story is not dry or dull at all. It's fascinating and spellbinding. It's history but it does not read like history. It reads like a novel. And of course that is the genius of the author. By the end of the book you are left hoping for Wolfe to continue his narrative of the space program but alas it must end somewhere.